East Timor joined the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) bloc as its 11th member state on Sunday, after 14 years of campaigning.
Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, whose country currently chairs ASEAN, said East Timor’s membership “completes the ASEAN family – reaffirming our common destiny and deep sense of regional kinship.”
“Within this community, Timor-Leste’s development and strategic autonomy will find firm and lasting support,” Anwar said at the ASEAN summit in Kuala Lumpur, the Malaysian capital.
East Timor, also known by its Portuguese name Timor-Leste, is the youngest country in the region, having gained independence from Indonesia in 2002 after 24 years of occupation.
President José Ramos-Horta has long campaigned for ASEAN membership and a first application was submitted in 2011, during his first term.
The signing of a declaration on the admission of East Timor on Sunday is also considered one of the biggest successes of Malaysia’s ASEAN presidency.
East Timor was granted observer status with the regional body in 2022, but its full membership has been delayed by various challenges.
The country remains grappling with high levels of inequality, malnutrition and unemployment.
It remains heavily dependent on oil, with little diversification into other sectors, and some concerns remain about its ability to participate meaningfully in the ASEAN development agenda.
It also faces challenges in infrastructure development and human resource capacity, considered essential for effective participation in the ASEAN economic community.
In September, thousands of student-led protesters demonstrated against a multimillion-dollar plan to buy Toyota Prado SUVs for each of the country’s 65 MPs and lifetime pensions for former MPs.
Protesters and police clashed for two days before Parliament canceled the purchase of the vehicles.
Parliament also bowed to public pressure over MPs’ pensions.
ASEAN began as a five-member bloc in 1967 and gradually expanded, with Cambodia being the most recent addition in 1999.
